How's this for a sterling cast? Brad Pitt, Christian Bale and Ryan Gosling are looking to team up in "The Big Short," an adaptation of Michael Lewis' nonfiction bestseller about the financial crisis of the 2000s, according to a Variety report.

Nimble and risk-taking, small theater companies in Chicago are often leading the creative charge. There's nothing like a tight budget to entice artists down the unbeaten path. With that in mind, a few observations about Chicago's fringe theater worth...

Screenwriter April Prosser's comedy "Plus One" has found its partner: The Weinstein Co. has acquired rights to the film, which is being produced by Will Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum and Adam McKay.
"Plus One" will be made under the trio's Gloria Sanchez...

The Weinstein Company is teaming with Will Ferrell's Gloria Sanchez Prods. on April Prosser's comedy "Plus One."
The story centers on a woman who comes out of a long-term relationship only to realize that all her friends have married off -- leaving her...

While entertainment figures like Martin Sheen and Barbra Streisand have lent their names to support to midterm campaigns, there also has been a showbiz focus on specific issues, like gun violence.
The latest are two spots directed by Mark Pellington,...

How are Hollywood Democrats feeling about Tuesday's elections? In one word: dread.
With signs over the weekend that some key Senate races were moving toward Republicans, hopes were on chances that the polling is wrong, that Democrats will come through in turnout, or that a GOP Senate majority will be slim and very quickly shoot itself in the foot.
But a number of donors and industry activists said that their expectations were that the GOP would win the six seats necessary to give them a majority in...

Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg will star in comedy "Daddy's Home" with shooting starting later this year.
Ferrell will portray a mild-mannered radio executive who strives to become the best stepdad to his wife's two children. Wahlberg will play their freeloading father.
Ferrell and Wahlberg, who teamed in "The Other Guys," had been rumored to be the stars of "Daddy's Home" since the summer. Paramount and Red Granite Pictures will co-produce and co-finance and Paramount will distribute worldwide.
Sean...

Over the years, Chicago-based filmmaker Stephen Cone has occasionally done freelance work running casting sessions for the local agency Paskal Rudnicke, which is frequently hired to find actors for commercials and TV guest spots.
That experience — running a casting session — directly inspired Cone's latest indie, "The Mystery of Life," which screens this week at Chicago Filmmakers. Funny, revealing and at times deeply awkward, it offers a thrillingly low-fi account of an actor's life...

Adam McKay Photos

The Onion Inc., the Chicago-based purveyor of fake news and entertainment websites, may really be for sale. Or not.
Responding to a report by Bloomberg on Thursday that the company was exploring a possible sale, Steve Hannah, chief executive officer and minority owner of The Onion, sent employees a memo Friday outlining the "real story," which he said was an investment-raising effort that has generated offers for the whole company.
In the memo, which was obtained by the Chicago Tribune, Hannah...

On the latest edition of "PopPolitics," Variety's new show on SiriusXM's POTUS Channel, director Morgan Spurlock talks about his latest project, "We the Economy," in which he convinced directors and other entertainment figures like Adrian Grenier, Catherine Hardwicke, James Schamus, Adam McKay and Joe Berlinger to make shorts that tried to make sense of money.
Spurlock tells host Ted Johnson that another challenge was that even though the project was about the economy, no one was going to make much money...

Seth Rogen and friends dressed in their spiffiest prom attire and laughed for a good cause Friday night at the third annual Hilarity for Charity fundraiser presented by Genworth at the Hollywood Palladium.
The event, hosted by Rogen and his wife, Lauren Miller Rogen, raises money for Alzheimer's causes in association with the Alzheimer's Assn., including research studies, an online support group for Alzheimer's caregivers under 40, awareness efforts including a campaign to raise awareness among women,...